Letter: Massasoit State Park will benefit from bond bill

I am writing to thank Richard Sylvester for voicing his support for important state assets such as Massasoit State Park in his recent letter to the Taunton Daily Gazette, “Massasoit State Park deserves funding.”

I am writing to thank Richard Sylvester for voicing his support for important state assets such as Massasoit State Park in his recent letter to the Taunton Daily Gazette, “Massasoit State Park deserves funding.”

When I spoke with Mr. Sylvester earlier this week, we exchanged the concerns we share for our state parks. As Senate chairman of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, I helped guide the appropriations in this year’s environmental bond bill from start to finish.

Massasoit State Park is one such park that will benefit from the $2.2 billion environmental bond bill that recently passed unanimously in both the House and Senate. The bill includes more than $111 million in bond authorization for underserved parks in urban and suburban neighborhoods; $255.5 million for Department of Conservation and Recreation investments in reservations, forests, parks, harbor islands, skating rinks and swimming pools, among other projects; and about $100 million looking at DCR parkways, boulevards, multi-use trails, internal state park roads and recreational trails, pedestrian bridges and related areas.

I fully anticipate the administration will move forward with improvements to Massasoit through some of the appropriations I have highlighted here. What readers may not know is that there is already a movement underway to improve Massasoit State Park, coordinated between our legislative delegation, concerned citizens in the area and agency heads. All that was lacking in the plan was the capital to get started; this bond bill provides this administration and the next administration the authorization to do so.

It is citizens like Mr. Sylvester who make volunteer groups such as the Friends of Massasoit State Park successful; they understand our natural resources must be protected to preserve our environment and to promote public health, but also to boost our economy by attracting tourists from around the region and country to Massachusetts. I encourage all citizens to get involved with these types of advocacy groups to help push for investments in our parks and waterways and to take action to improve them. You can find more information about the Massasoit group by visiting their Facebook page, “Friends of Massasoit State Park.”